


Saturday

by aiwritingfic



Category: Hikaru no Go
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-09-20
Updated: 2011-09-20
Packaged: 2017-10-30 00:04:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/325580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aiwritingfic/pseuds/aiwritingfic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Waya gets very curious about one of his online go partners, to Isumi's detriment.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Saturday

Saturday, September 10, 9:49 am Japan Standard Time

`[09:49] zelda: got time for a game?  
[09:49] juodaibaltas: sure  
[09:49] zelda: i'll give you a handicap  
[09:50] juodaibaltas: 5 stone pls  
[09:50] zelda: really? last week it was 6 stones.  
[09:50] juodaibaltas: i want to try  
[09:51] zelda: okay, but you asked for it.`

Saturdays always started this way for Waya. When the sun started warming his futon just a little too much--this happened earlier in the fall and spring and later in the summer and winter, thanks to the wonderful new aircon he'd just had installed--Waya would roll out of bed, start up his computer, and have breakfast while playing against whoever was logged onto KGS at the time. Sometimes people would IM him, and occasionally he would IM other people. `juodaibaltas` was one such person; decent player, improving well, unconventional. It was kind of like playing Shindou in his early insei days, and Waya kind of missed that side of Shindou some days. Not that he didn't like the current Shindou fine the way he was, but.

Losing, however, was not usual for Waya these days, especially losing to someone with a five-stone handicap who'd only been playing Waya at six stones a scant two weeks ago.

`[11:26] juodaibaltas: gg! thank you for the win. i have to go--4 stones next time?  
[11:26] zelda: gg! how did you improve so quickly?  
** juodaibaltas has logged off`

Waya stared at the screen, then shook himself. Some people progressed faster than others, Shindou being a case in point. He scanned the list of players logged in and stopped at a name. `goisfood`... wasn't that Kurata-san's online go handle?

`[11:35] zelda: wanna play? 1 stone for me.  
[11:36] goisfood: Waya-kun? Sure, but are you sure one stone is enough for you? Remember our last game?  
[11:37] zelda: if you don't mind some shidougo, i'll do two stones.  
[11:37] zelda: ever played a player called juodaibaltas?  
[11:38] goisfood: No, I can't recall ever doing so. Why?  
[11:38] zelda: just curious. let's play!`

All right, so asking Kurata hadn't been the right move, but a game of shidougo with a player of Kurata-san's caliber was nothing to complain about.

Waya scanned the list of players again, and then facepalmed. Of course, the one go player with the most international connections in the strangest places. He hesitated for a few seconds; talking to Yang Hai always frustrated Waya to no end. Still, Yang Hai was a great shidougo partner when he felt like it, and Waya knew how to get Yang Hai in the mood through the right bribes. Those bribes should work just fine for information gathering, too...

(Why Yang Hai hadn't just moved to Japan was beyond Waya, since it wasn't as if the Nihon Ki-in wouldn't love to snatch a player like that from China, and Yang Hai was perfectly fluent in Japanese. Waya was pretty sure Le Ping didn't need a babysitter any more, either.)

Waya's curiosity ate at him until he gave in.

`[14:24] zelda: have you ever played a player called juodaibaltas?  
[14:25] ShesellsSeashells: what's in it if I answer your question?  
[14:25] zelda: the latest akb48 poster i can get.  
[14:26] ShesellsSeashells: I'm tempted to bargain, Waya-kun, but I'm feeling generous. yes, juodaibaltas and I play a lot. She's a Lithuanian studying in China. Lives down the street from our Go Institute. I can arrange a date, if that's what you were after, but it'll cost you a little more...  
[14:26] zelda: ... do you ever think about anything besides girls?  
[14:27] ShesellsSeashells: go, of course. and computers. besides, she's hot. kind of looks like misaki-chan, only, you know, lithuanian.  
[14:27] zelda: you're kidding.  
[14:27] ShesellsSeashells: check out my FB. that last party, the one in the green dress.`

More curious than anything else, Waya did so. He gaped at the screen.

`[14:31] ShesellsSeashells: you know, if you don't mind an apartment exchange, I'm sure Le Ping would love to go to Tokyo again. just sayin'.  
[14:33] zelda: and what exactly did you have in mind when you said "a little more"?`

* * *

Sunday, September 11, 1:00 pm Japan Standard Time

Isumi was relaxing in his room reading Touya-sensei's latest go book when the phone rang. The caller id showed a cellphone number, but it wasn't a number Isumi recognized, and it wasn't saved in his phone. Maybe it was Waya, calling from a payphone? "Hello?"

"Isumi-san! I'm in Japan now, let's have lunch and then play go! Buy me some sushi, it's been a while!"

Isumi stared at the phone in shock. "Le Ping?"


End file.
